Dear friends and colleagues,
The title of this, my seventh annual message to you, says it all: “Health Care’s All-American Journey: This is But the End of the Beginning.” Passage of the Patient Protection Affordability Care Act into law on the first full day of spring certainly felt like the end of a monumental journey. Some were pleased with the outcome and some were displeased, but everyone agreed that the moment was historic. True enough. But I also believe the real history will come about not from what’s already happened, but from what we do going forward. And that is what my message this year is all about.
History, you see, is not driven by events and institutions—it’s driven by people. From our foundation’s earliest days, we’ve been working to push our mission to improve health and health care in America as close to the sharpest edge of change as possible, defining it, harnessing and guiding it.
Looking back, it is as if together we wrote the prologue for what comes next. Now we face serious questions that beg for serious answers. What does change on this scale mean for the American people? For the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation? For our far-flung community of innovators, explorers, experimenters, researchers and hands-on operators?
I hope you will find answers in this message as we:
Lay out how the new law interfaces with our philanthropy’s top priorities;
Marshal our work around six domains of aspiration and activity; and
Suggest next steps as we move together into health care’s re-sculpted landscape.
We do not pretend, however, to have all the answers—or even know all the questions! Several times during my tenure, I’ve asked the field to share some “one-minute memos”—quick thoughts that I can read in a minute or so. Now, more than ever, I’d like to know what’s on your minds regarding reform to inform and sharpen our thinking. What does it mean to you and what do you think it means for the Foundation and our nation? These comments will come directly to me and will not be publicly shared, so give me your feedback on where we are (http://www.rwjf.org/about/oneminutememo.jsp?cid=XEM_PM-220850&c=), how we’re doing, and your view of the road we’ve yet to travel together.
In the meantime, don’t forget that while the past may, indeed, be prologue, it’s the next chapters we write together that can be the best of all. On behalf of everyone at RWJF, thank you for your unflagging dedication to the health and well-being of the American people and the care and protection they need and deserve. It is an honor to join you on this journey as your partner, friend and colleague.
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A.
President and CEO
The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation
Passing the peace and love,
Posted By: agnes levine
Wednesday, May 5th 2010 at 11:39AM
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